A New Force Awakens
by Jeffjway
Summary: The Force will always strive to achieve stability, attain equality between extremes, Balance in the Force. In a time not that long ago, in a galaxy just that little bit different, the winds of change caused a different choice to be made. If Jedi Master Luke Skywalker had saved his nephew from temptation from the Dark Side on Ajan Kloss, what would have precipitated?


**Chapter 1 – Ebb and Flow**

The night was dark and the wind was howling through the trees. A mist had descended unto the lake just beyond the parapet he was on and that only served to worsen the mood that Jedi Master Luke Skywalker was in. He had always hated the time he had spent in the swamps of Dagobah all those years ago, the humidity, the dankness, that stupid cave where he fought himself and the mist in front of him reminded him too much of the planet and those days with Master Yoda.

The mist reminded him of the disappointment in Master Yoda's eyes when Luke chose to go rescue Han and Leia instead of continuing his training, it reminded Luke of how his naiveté was lost along with his hand. The mist only served to make the heaviness in Luke's heart grow all the more as he started his Force meditation.

The Jedi Academy he had set up three odd years ago on Ajan Kloss was meant to be a way to recreate the Jedi of old. Jedis assisting kingdoms and governments in their recovery within the auspices of the New Republic. A gathering of the brightest lights to push back the darkness of the Dark Side that once pervaded every parsec of the galaxy. But in the last two years the Academy began faltering and falling apart around him.

The students Luke had spent so many years teaching were leaving his Academy in search of lessons he refused to teach them, to seek out experiences he denied them, to seek out knowledge that he told them was evil, to seek out the Dark Side of the Force. And Luke Skywalker, the only Jedi there was, a Jedi that never actually finished his training with Yoda because he had to go save his friends, a Jedi that gave himself the title of Jedi Master because there was no longer anyone that could take that position, was a Jedi that now did not know what to do.

Luke had grasped tightly to the Light Side because he saw the pain and death the Dark Side brought under the leadership of Darth Sidious, the Emperor. He held on to the hope that the goodness he saw in his father was not an illusion, because he, from young, had always wanted to know his parents, his family; and that hope kept him from falling to the Dark Side of the Force. The students Luke had were all young, not touched by the horrors of war, born into a world of peace and happiness. They did not have a reason, an impetus, to deny the Dark Side, to keep themselves from temptation. All they saw was an experience they wanted to have; that since they only lived once, they wanted to live it in as many ways they wanted.

As the students started to leave Ajan Kloss, the hallowed halls of the Academy grew quieter and emptier and Luke gradually began to sense a small, growing dark presence flitting about in the corridors of the old Jedi Temple underneath his Academy, a presence that he could not sense when the place was filled with the many different Force Presences of the students, when Luke was too busy trying to teach them every hour of the day. Luke dove into Force Mediation daily, like how Master Yoda had taught him all those years ago, to investigate what he felt, to figure out if this was real or his own mind and insecurities playing tricks on him.

The dark presence had defied his constant attempts the past few months to detect, to observe, to understand. Until tonight.

Luke opened up his senses to the Force, becoming one with the mystical power and letting it guide his mind. Soon, just at the limit of his Force-enhanced senses, Luke felt a sliver of Darkness worming its way through the student quarters, pulsing steadily and rhythmically, releasing small whispers of darkness that quickly disappeared into the natural darkness of the night. If this darkness came from an external source, Luke had to destroy it and reinforce the defenses of the Temple before pursuing the source of the Darkness; but if it came from within the Academy….

Luke summoned his trusty lightsaber from the drawer by his bedside with a flick of his fingers and strode towards the student quarters with a renewed purpose. He had doubted his own ability to teach, to nurture new talents; but if the Dark Side was actively pulling his students away under his nose so blatantly, it was not his teachings, but his lack of alertness in the Force; not his inadequacies in the Jedi Way, but his foolishness in thinking that the Dark Side was in retreat even after all this years.

_Balance. There will be Balance._

Luke stopped. He heard the Force speak out in his mind. The voice was neither male nor female, yet it was both, not identifiable as any particular species' speech, yet it was all of the species at once. Balance? Luke shook his head to clear it. _I'll think and mediate on that later, I need to stop the Darkness in the Academy. That is clearly the more pressing matter._ Luke thought to himself and restarted his advance into the Student's Quarters at a faster pace, not daring to use the Force to power his steps for fear of scaring his Dark Force prey.

Luke expanded his Force senses while masking his own Force presence, trying to sneak up on his adversary. He ran past rooms, sprinted down corridors as he followed the strand of Darkness as it slithered through the dormitories of the Senior Padawans, the students that Luke had started the Academy with and were the closest to being raised to Knighthood. Then Luke came to a sudden stop as he realised where the Force had led him to, his nephew's room, the room of Ben Solo. Luke double checked his Force senses and his heart sank. The Darkness was definitely within and was clearly pulsating at a rate Luke had never felt before, the only question now was if the Darkness was something attacking his nephew or if it WAS his nephew.

_There will be Balance in the Force._

Luke heard the voice resonate within the Force, it was emotionless and calm, like it did not care if Luke heard it or even if it wanted Luke to hear it. He wondered if he would have heard it if had not been mediating so regularly the last few months. This reminded him of when his sister Leia heard the Force speak to her at the end of her own Jedi Training. Leia had told Luke that she heard the Force tell her that if she continued training to be a Jedi Master, her son will die at the hands of the Dark Side. It was for this reason Leia stopped her Jedi training and concentrated only on Politics, continuing their mother's legacy in the Senate despite her strength in the Force. At that point in time Luke was utterly confused by Leia's decision as Han Solo hadn't even proposed to Leia, let alone married her and have a son with her, and thought it was an excuse of Leia's to return to her comfort zone and deny the path of the Jedi.

Now, close to 20 years on, with Ben Solo, Leia's son, in the room in front of Luke, and with Luke hearing the Force himself so clearly, he began to wonder if what the Force is saying is linked to what Leia heard all those years ago. Was Ben going to die under his watch tonight?

Luke, steeling himself, opened the door to Ben's room and focused his Force senses, lightsaber unlit but grasped firmly in his hand. The unease bubbling at the pit of Luke's stomach grew worse as he felt the Dark Side signature he had been chasing emanating from the prone figure of his nephew. Ben Solo was lying on his bed, his hands were both resting on his chest, clutching tightly something that was pulsating a sickly red light, a pulse that matched the pulse of the Darkness Luke was sensing.

_It is too late, Ben has fallen to the Dark Side and I have failed him, Leia and Han, Leia's Sacrifice of her training was not enough to counteract his failings as a teacher_, Luke lamented in his mind as he moved his thumb unto the activation button on his lightsaber. The idea of his own nephew not only falling to the Dark Side but to actively cause others to falter in their own walk in the Force, cause Jedi students under his care to leave the school. How could Ben do the very thing his Grandfather did? Did he not learn from the lessons? The stories Leia told of what Darth Vader did? Ben's sheer audacity to taint the Jedi Academy with these tendrils of Dark Force astounded and highly disturbed Luke.

Luke's feet and arms shifted unconsciously into an Ataru stance and his lightsaber, though unlit, was ready to strike down his nephew who lay there prone on his own bed.

Luke grew irritated at seeing more Dark tendrils flow out from whatever Ben was clutching tightly in his hands, seeing the tendrils flow in a serpentine motion to the ground and out the door, some even dodging Luke's feet as they skittered past. Blood began to rush to Luke's head and shoulders as he tensed his body, his thumb increased its pressure on the activation button of his lightsaber and the balls of his feet pressed down unto the stone floor, ready to leap forward, ignite the lightsaber and eliminate the threat to the Light Side of the Force before his adversary would know, just as the Jedi Guardians of Old would have done when faced with Sith forces. The Dark Side had to be destroyed and even if it costs him hi…..

Then a memory, from decades ago, surfaced through the chaos of Luke's mind. _'Strike me down with all your hatred, and your journey towards the dark side will be complete…'_ Words that the Emperor had said to him the last time he felt this…. angry?

Anger.

Luke had felt anger. Anger at the sight before him, anger at the situation he found himself in, anger at Ben.

_Fear is the path to the Dark Side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering. And there you will find the Dark Side of the Force,_ Yoda had told him that back on Dagobah. Luke was fearful of what seeing the Darkness here in the Academy meant about himself, about his actions, about the fate of the galaxy. And that fear had somehow morphed into anger.

All through this very night, he was reminded of his own training on Dagobah, the planet where he faced his own darkness and his own fear of falling to the Dark Side in his quest to face Darth Vader. He had been reminded of his own struggle between doing what he thought was right and what, retrospectively, was beneficial for the war, for the Greater Good. He was reminded of Leia's revelation at the end of her training and the sacrifice she decided to make. And most of all, he was told, rather resoundingly, to consider Balance.

Is he making the same mistake he did all those years before and rushing into a decision based on emotion, of fear? Just as he was fearful of what would happen to Leia, Han and the others, was he now acting out of fear for what this darkness is? Just as he conquered his darkness, can he lead Ben to do the same? He sought and believed that there was goodness in his father, Anakin Skywalker, can he do the same here with Ben. Is whatever action he chooses now going to affect the Balance of the Force? If so, how?

_I am one with the Force. The Force is with me._ Luke repeated in his mind.

Taking a deep breath, Luke sheathed his lightsaber and knelt beside his nephew Ben and laid his hand on the boy, waking him. Ben propped himself up and slowly turned to his uncle as he used his hands to wipe the dust from his eyes. "Is something the matter, Uncle Luke?" he mumbles sleepily.

Luke grabbed Ben's hands and lifted it to get a closer look at them. There was nothing in Ben's hands, not even a trace of the Dark Side that Luke had previously sensed the whole night up to now. Was it a trick by Ben to hide what he was doing or was it a plot by the Dark Side to make him slay his own nephew by making it seem that Ben was doing something Dark?

"Ben, I sensed something in this room, a presence." Luke started calmly, trying not to scare the boy. "Did you sense anything in your sleep?"

"No, Uncle Luke, I… I mean … I was dreaming of … No, it's nothing important. I didn't sense anything at all." Ben stammered and yawned. Luke could sense a little fear and apprehension, but nothing beyond what one would be feeling after being awoken from your sleep by your uncle in the middle of the night.

"Nothing is ever not important, Ben. Tell me. Maybe the Force is giving you prophetic dreams that I need to decipher." Luke tried his best to give a playful smirk to ease the tension, but deep down inside, the tension of what had just threatened to happen minutes ago still bubbled in his gut.

"I have been having this dream, Uncle Luke, of grandfather Anakin." Ben said, and the bubbling in Luke's gut doubled. "I hear his thoughts, feel his feelings, his quest to gain the strength to have control over his own destiny, to have the power to save and protect those he loved and the path he took to accomplish it."

Luke swallowed hard at his nephew's confession "Ben, but his quest for power led him to the Dark Side. He stood by the right hand of the Emperor and killed many Jedi. He even hurt your mother, his own daughter."

"But he didn't know he had a daughter then. And besides, he took the path he walked in order to save great-grandmother and grandmother from death, he needed the power to accomplish it." Ben argued, more awake and animated now, his words just rolling off his tongue without any pauses. "Yes, he fell to the Dark Side because of how he got about getting that level of power, but he started out right. He sought more power in order to protect those he loved, ensure that the ones he loved didn't die. I want that too, I want to continue the legacy of Grandfather Anakin and become all-powerful so that all my precious people will be safe."

Luke took a deep breath to gather his thoughts and looked Ben straight in the eyes "I think what you want is rather admirable. The desire to protect your loved ones is a good desire to have but power, such great and terrible power, that you can protect them from everything would cause them, paradoxically, harm. They would not be able to grow without adversity, they would stagnate and wither under such mollycoddling. And in your search and obtaining of such power, would not your loved ones lose you?"

"Anakin Skywalker, in his search for the power to save others, lost himself in his own quest, he distanced himself from his own loved ones so that they would not stop him from achieving what he wanted. In order to get the power to protect his loved ones, he ended up having no one to love as his quest consumed him and became the center of his existence. He replaced his teacher Obi-wan, your great-grandmother and grandmother, and even both me and your mother in his heart entirely with his quest and that, in the end, was all he ended up protecting and saving, his desire for more power. That was what started his fall to the Dark Side." Luke continued.

Ben Solo looked away from his uncle, breaking the eye contact, and started at the floor as he pondered his Uncle Luke's words. "I… I think I understand. One cannot ever get so powerful as to prevent all possible harm to their loved ones, and a quest to achieve such ultimate power would consume you as it will be unending and self-serving in the end. One can only try their best with what they have and being who they are and let those you protect do the same for you."

"Yes. The Jedi are stronger as a group, and the Sith as individuals; that's why Jedis gather as a council, study in an Academy and Sith go about in groups of two, of which one will eventually kill the other for more power. Both sides do deal in strength and power; Power of Community versus Power Consolidated." Luke added.

"How do you know what Grandfather Anakin was thinking when he started his quest, Uncle Luke? Did he leave behind some writings or Holocron?" Ben asked as he mulled over the events of this night so far.

Luke blinked. How DID he know and say what he said? "I… I don't know. It was as if the Force told me what to say." He replied hesistantly.

**_"_****_That is right, my son_**_."_ A voice reverberated through the room and a blue light coalesced into being beside the two Jedi.

"Father?" "Grandfather?" Luke and Ben asked together as the blue light shimmered and formed into the Force Ghost of Anakin Skywalker.

**_"_****_As I am now in the Force, you are able to sense what I know and felt when you meditate. The knowledge, thoughts and strength of all the Jedis of old is accessible to you when you touch the Force_**." Anakin intoned. "**_You have done well in preventing my grandson from falling to the Dark Side just as you pulled me back into the Light, my son. The Jedi that have come before you approve of your actions and confer to you the rank of Jedi Master. Do not continue to doubt yourself, Luke."_**

"Thank you, Father." Luke replied, overwhelmed.

**_"_****_Ben, my grandchild," _**the image of Anakin Skywalker turned to the young Ben,**_ "_****_though this is the first time we have met, I feel like we know each other very well for you have seen my life, my dreams, my goals. You were tempted as I was, but your uncle preventing you from taking that first step into darkness. Remember how you feel now and hold on to that feeling, for your path ahead will be fraught with many pitfalls and enticements. You must stay true and not follow my footsteps into Darkness, no matter what."_**

"Father, what was it that I saw in Ben's hands earlier?" Luke asked.

**_"_****_The Force is the life all around us, it is neither Good nor Evil, there must be Balance between the two sides. I was the Chosen One, chosen to bring balance to the Force for the Jedi had grown too strong and complacent and the Sith numbers had dwindled tremendously in their isolation." _**The former Sith Lord explained.

**_"_****_When the Jedi were being persecuted and hunted down by the Sith, and the Sith ruled the known Galaxy, a new 'Chosen One' was selected to bring Order back by defeating the Sith Lord and pulling his apprentice back to the Light. That Chosen One was you, Luke._**

**_Now, Luke, as you have gathered and taught a new generation of Jedi, so has the Sith. Some of the students that have left you were drawn away by the lure of power, by thoughts of revenge and hate, or by false stories of fame and fortune, and many have been recruited by an emerging Dark Side. The Dark energy you saw was the Sith forces trying to tempt Ben and also to trick you into attacking him, sealing in Ben the notion that he could no longer trust you and in you, Luke, the notion that you are a failure and not a worthy Jedi. Ben would have left and joined the Dark Side and you would have reclused yourself as Obi-wan once did. _**

**_The Dark Side is in full resurgence and the fact that it could penetrate the Jedi Temple you have built this school on and attempt to fool the both of you tonight is proof of this. A new 'Chosen One' would be needed to balance the Force, and that will be you, Ben, welcome to the Skywalker Legacy. With neither side in wane this time, I am unable to tell what the Balance the Force will enforce this time, so be wary and choose your actions well for each step will be measured._**

**_If you had fallen this night, young Ben, a new 'Chosen One' would have risen to counter the shift in power. It would be a Skywalker, but perhaps only in name, instead of blood, for I know not of any other grandchild. But I am glad you did not, Ben. . The Jedi that have come before us declare that you have faced your darkness and have survived and we confer to you the rank of Jedi Knight. Do not continue to isolate yourself, Ben, you are loved."_**

"Th…thanks, grandfather." Ben stammered.

**_"_****_Be strong and may the Force always be you, my family." _**Anakin Skywalker declared, and faded slowly from sight, leaving a stunned Jedi Master and a newly burdened Jedi Knight in a dark room.


End file.
